Open People Watching

[Penelope Zatare]

If there was one thing Penelope had picked up at this school, it was the habit of people watching. Waiting until the day was at its busiest, she walked down to the courtyard. She found herself a good seat, leaning back against the stone with her notebook in her lap. She liked to take notes on people- her gossip journal, she called it, scribbling down rumors she'd heard and things she'd observed. She had a drink with her, letting her hair fall to cover her eyes. For anyone looking, she appeared to be reading. She wasn't, though, she was covertly watching everyone that walked by, waiting to see if anything interesting might happen.

 

[Summer Irvine]

The weather today wasn't terrible and Summer had used that to her advantage in trying out her new coat, one that was too thick for the summer but not warm enough for the winter. It had a deep, dark blue cover and some golden elements on the ends of her sleeves and her collar. She loved it. As she was returning to the castle her eye fell on one of the girls from her dorm sat against one of the stone walls, book in front of her. Summer took a minute to observe her, curious as to why she sometimes seemed to be writing when it looked like she was reading. She didn't particularly care but it also wasn't like she was doing anything else of interest at the moment so she confidently stepped across the courtyard and sat down next to Penelope. "Whatcha dooooing?" She asked in a sing-songy voice, trying to glance over at the book on her lap.

 

[Penelope Zatare]

Penny hadn't gotten any useful information, so she didn't really care when Summer popped up, leaning into her space. She looked up, arching a brow. "Waiting for something to happen." She countered. "Nothings happened yet- nothing interesting, anyway," She wondered idly if the girl would catch the veiled insult. "Is there a reason you needed to talk to me?"

 

[Summer Irvine]

Summer sat back a little when Penelope mentioned nothing interesting had happened yet. She raised an eyebrow at her question though. God, why did so many of her classmates lack any kind of social skills? "Oh, forgive me." She pouted sarcastically. "I wasn't aware I needed to state my intentions before speaking to you." Summer added in a more neutral tone, trying really hard to refrain from rolling her eyes. "But geez, I was just trying to show some interest. You know since we'll be living with each other for six more years and all?"

 

[Penelope Zatare]

Penny bit her tongue- she didn't like provoking fights, it meant more trouble later, and she hated people in her space. Instead of a snarky remark she just sighed. "I doubt I could say anything you'd find interesting." She countered instead. "My plan was to make it through with companionable silence just generally ignoring each other." She told the girl, not making any invitations to be friends but trying to offer a solution that wasn't antagonistic.

 

[Summer Irvine]

Summer had to try her hardest not to sigh or roll her eyes at Penelope's response. Why were some of the girls in her dorm so.. odd? It would've been so much more fun if they were all cool and got along. Like on big friend group. Something that had already seen impossible since they had Morrie, but now even more so when Penelope mentioned she hadn't been planning on interacting with her dormmates much either. "Ugh, that's so not fun." Summer replied, although she guessed it was way better to be ignored by Penelope than for her to be annoying like Morrie. "But fine. I guess I'll start ignoring you then." She shrugged as she got up, wiping down her skirt. This girl was so not worth her time.

 

[Penelope Zatare]

Penelope rolled her eyes. "It's not about being fun," She countered immediately. "It's about survival. I know absolutely nothing about you, about this school, about anyone here, and yet I'm supposed to just trust you and act like just anyone could be my best friend?" She grimaced, snapping her book shut and standing herself. "But go on, I'm sure that just accepting anyone interesting in life is going to be safe."